A stringed instrument is played by rubbing, picking or striking strings thereof, and the strings are directly touched by fingers or nails, or rubbed, picked or struck by a playing assistance implement. For example, a plectrum of a shamisen and a violin bow are used as playing assistance implements.
In case of playing a stringed instrument, e.g., guitar, it is possible to play the instrument by fingers or nails only, but a plying assistance implement, e.g., pick, is also generically used for playing the instrument. General picks are divided into a “mountable-type”, e.g., finger pick, thumb pick, and a “holdable-type”, e.g., flat pick.
Classic guitars are usually played by fingers or nails. However, in case of playing for a long time or playing a stringed instrument having metal strings, e.g., acoustic guitar, there is a possibility that skin or nails are abraded. To play a guitar without abrasion of skin or nails, the mountable-type pick, e.g., finger pick, thumb pick, is mounted on a finger for playing the guitar.
The style of playing with using fingers, nails or wearable-type instruments, e.g., finger pick, thumb pick, is generally called a finger style. In the finger style, strings are mainly picked by bending and stretching actions of fingers. A plurality of fingers are capable of picking a plurality of strings, so main melody and sub-melody can be simultaneously played. In case of mounting the finger pick or thumb pick, the finger style play with using a plurality of fingers can be performed. However, the bending and stretching actions of fingers are generally limited in one direction, so high-level playing performance is required for high speed playing, etc.
On the other hand, a style of holding a flat pick with two fingers or more, or a style of holding a mounted thumb pick as well as the flat pick is called a pick style. In the pick style, strings are mainly picked by bending and stretching actions or twisting actions of a wrist, or by bending and stretching actions of a forearm. In the pick style, each of strings can be picked from both sides thereof in order, so high speed playing can be performed. However, in the pick style, the pick is held and single or a plurality of strings are picked, in one action, by moving the wrist or the arm, so this style is not suitable for simultaneously playing a plurality of melodies.
These days, a variety of playing styles are performed by players, and some players perform a mixed style, in which playing is performed by using the pick, which is held by fingers, and other free fingers, but very high-level playing performance is required for performing the mixed style.
As to the above described playing assistance implements, a holdable plate-shaped pick for playing a stringed instrument is disclosed in Patent Document 1. A thumb pick which is mounted on a thumb for playing a stringed instrument is disclosed in Patent Document 2. A finger pick, in which a nail member is attached to a picking section, is disclosed in Patent Document 3.